diff --git a/test/pacman/pactest.py b/test/pacman/pactest.py
index fe146711..d80076e2 100755
--- a/test/pacman/pactest.py
+++ b/test/pacman/pactest.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def create_parser():
         sys.exit(1)
 
     # instantiate env and parser objects
-    root_path = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+    root_path = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='pactest-')
     env = pmenv.pmenv(root=root_path)
     opt_parser = create_parser()
     (opts, args) = opt_parser.parse_args()